Clairefontaine Paper Tests

by Tony Thomas

I participated in the Rhodia Paper Project (Week 2) at www.rhodiadrive.com.

First of all, what a delightful assortment of papers from Clairefontaine!

I inked up some of my favorite fountain pens and also pulled out a pencil for this test.  Pens/pencil used were: Pilot Metropolitan Fine w/Noodler's Black, TWSBI Vac 700 (.8 Nemosine Stub nib) w/Waterman Serenity Blue, Lamy Studio EF w/diluted PR Chocolat, Lamy Vista (1.1 stub) w/Noodler's Black and a Pentel Kerry Mechanical Pencil with .7 HB lead.

Here are the tests:

G. Lalo Verge de France (100g): This is a great slightly off-white laid-finish paper that would be great for formal correspondence.  As a result, it has a bit of texture that is only slightly uncomfortable when writing with an EF or fine nib. It accepts ink beautifully and drying time was acceptable.  No feathering observed.  The paper also performed well when I used my pencil, producing a solid, dark line.   A really great paper.

Clairefontaine GraF it (90g):   This was my least favorite paper of the three that I tested.  As it is a sketchpad paper, it has quite a bit of tooth (like most sketchpad papers).  That said, it performed quite well with fountain pens with no feathering.  It was really uncomfortable when using the EF and and fine nibs.  As expected, the pencil worked well with this paper.

Clairefontaine Triomphe (90g):  This  was my favorite of the three.  This is very expensive stationary paper and performs like it.  Very smooth texture with great performance with both fountain pens and pencil.  Beautiful, crisp, lines with no feathering and acceptable drying time.   Pure joy to write on with a fountain pen or pencil.

In summary, I think Clairefontaine makes some of the finest papers in the world!

Distressing News!

By Tony Thomas

I wanted to breathe some new life into my custom Hidebound Leather planner cover, so I decided to distress it.  Distress it?  Yep!

What does distressing entail?  Basically, you remove all of the contents of the cover and then wring it like a paper towel.   And then you do it again and again in various directions. 

If you have the right kind of leather, it will change its color and show an incredible texture change!

The top picture is of the cover shortly after I received it.  The picture below it was taken after distressing the leather.  Dramatic, indeed!

I decided to also distress the cover I bought for my Clairefontaine notebooks.  It is on the left (below) and my planner is on the right.

Pilot Metropolitan White Tiger Fine

by Tony Thomas

After watching Brian Goulet's video on the new Pilot Metropolitan fine point, I decided to give one a try.  I had my eye on the White Tiger model for a while, so I bought one with a fine nib from my friends at The Goulet Pen Company.

Let me say this at the outset: If you don't have a Pilot Metropolitan fountain pen in your collection, get one!  At $15, it is one of the true bargains of the fountain pen world.

I always add a CON-50 twist converter to my Metros, since I am not thrilled with the included CON-20 squeeze converter.  That adds a bit over $5 to the price, but to me, it is well worth it.

The Metropolitan fine point is a great writer.  It produces a true Japanese fine line with just a touch of feedback.  For me, it has become a daily writer due to its low cost and great performance.  Highly recommended!

A writing sample in a Clairefontaine notebook.




















The White Tiger hanging out 
with two of my other "Metros".

Hidebound Custom Planner Cover for Circa Notebook

by Tony Thomas

I have been looking at various planners for awhile, including the highly-esteemed Filofax.  However, I am not a big fan of ring binders and prefer the Circa/Arc/Rollabind disc binders and accessories.  

As a result, I decided to ditch my spartan Circa leather cover and commission the wonderful folks at Hidebound Leather to create a nice leather planner cover for me.

After consulting with them, I found that the easiest way to create such a planner was to start with a regular book cover and customize it.

After carefully measuring my Circa notebook including the discs, I picked the Classic Vintage Cognac large book cover ($45) and added the Folio pocket option ($15).   Check out the link here.

It took them about a week to create the cover and it arrived a few days after that.  I am very pleased with the result.  The cover is made of really soft and supple leather and, after a just a few weeks of use, it is already providing a nice, slightly distressed, "lived-in" look.  I really love it!

See the You Tube video I recorded about this cover here.

http://www.hideboundleather.com

Making Leather Traveler's Notebooks

by Tony Thomas

After my success making a traveler's notebook out of heavy felt, I decided to make a few more out of leather using the popular Ray Blake method.

For the first one, I used some vegetable-tanned tooling leather (highly recommended) from my local Tandy Leather.  The piece was only a bit larger than the 6" x 9" I needed to make the notebook.  It was a fairly thin piece at around 4 oz. (approx 4/64").   I also bought a small punch to create the holes.  After cutting the leather, punching the holes, trimming the corners, threading the elastic cords, and applying a bit of oil, here is what I came up with in about 20 minutes:

After living with the notebook for a week or so, I decided to make a second notebook out of heavier tooling leather I found on eBay (DC Leather).  It was a about 8.5 oz. (almost 9/64").   I also bought some dye (Angelus) for both notebooks to give them a more finished look.  The heavier leather was a bit more challenging to cut and required several passes with my utility knife.  After dyeing both sides, the color was a bit darker than I anticipated (the leather really it soaked it up) but the end product was a lot more attractive and professional looking.

Here are both notebooks after dye, some paste wax and buffing.  The thin one is on the left and the fatter one on the right:

These were extremely easy for me to make and I am not an experienced leather worker.  Unlike the Midori passport size notebook that uses proprietary inserts, I designed these notebooks to accept 3.5" x 5.5" notebooks like the Moleskine Cahier, Clairefontaine, Field Notes and  others.  To save a bit of money, I decided to create my own hand-sewn notebook inserts using card stock and HP 32# laser paper.

If you are handy, you should try making one (or more) of your own!

A $3 Homemade Traveler's Notebook

by Tony Thomas

I was a bit bored today so I decided to try and put together an inexpensive traveler's notebook similar to the familiar Midori.  A "Po-Dori", you could call it.

So, I headed off to the local craft store to see what materials I could find.  I discovered a 9" x 12" piece of stiff felt for a buck and 3 yards of green bungee cord for about $1.60.  The materials used are far from optimal but they are cheap and durable.

Total cost: less than $3 with tax.  Plus, I have enough materials left over to make a smaller one if I so desire.

I used Ray Blake's video on You Tube to provide the instruction needed to make it.  You can watch that video here.  Total construction time: about 15-20 minutes.

In any case, it turned out OK and it works!

I also made a short video on the way it turned out here.



















My "Po-Dori" with Clairefontaine 9 x 14 cm and Rhodia 7.5 x 12 cm notebooks installed.

Jinhao 599 Fountain Pen

by Tony Thomas

I saw the new Jinhao 599 on eBay several weeks ago for less than $4.00 (!) and decided to pick one up.  It certainly looks like an "homage" to a popular German pen whose name begins with an "L".

It is surprisingly well built and features a really smooth medium Jinhao nib.  The clip is firm yet springy and it is well-balanced with the familiar triangular grip section popularized by "you know who".

The pen is so nice that it makes you drop your jaw drop as what kind of quality can be achieved at such a low price.  It makes me wonder why the "real thing" sells for almost 10X the price!


Check on my brief YouTube video on the 599 here.